SA branchless bank signing up 5,000 customers every week

South African fintech company TYME is signing up 5,000 new customers each week, according to a report by The Australian.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia acquired TYME, which designs, builds and operates digital banking ecosystems, in 2015, for a reported AU$40 million (R365 million).

TYME (Take Your Money Everywhere) is headquartered in Johannesburg and had 80 employees at the time of the acquisition.

The company was originally launched out of a Deloitte Consulting project that was funded by mobile operator MTN. In June 2012, the venture was spun out of Deloitte, and TYME was established as a stand-alone business.

TYME has developed ‘know your customer’ KYC accreditation solutions that allow customers to open a simple bank account over their mobile phone, and open an unrestricted bank account from a remote location instead of having to enter a bank branch.

It originally partnered with MTN and retailer Pick n Pay, in 2012, enabling customers to use their mobile phones to open fully regulated bank accounts. In September MTN announced that it had stopped signing up new mobile money customers – the system of which was installed by TYME.

“Using Wi-Fi connectivity, a document and fingerprint verification capability, a high-resolution camera and other capabilities, the kiosk can spit out a fully compliant bank account in five minutes,” the paper said.

Citing CBA’s chief executive, The Australian reported that there are now 685 Tyme kiosks in more than 500 Pick n Pay stores. CBA, he said, is acquiring 5,000 new customers per week, out of a total base of 86,000.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom.